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Counties of Sweden

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Counties of Sweden
Sveriges län(Swedish)
CategoryUnitary state
LocationSweden
Number21
PopulationsLeast:Gotland,61,001
Most:Stockholm,2,415,139
AreasSmallest:Blekinge,2946.4 km2
Largest:Norrbotten,98244.8 km2
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Thecounties of Sweden(Swedish:Sverigeslän) are the administrativesubdivisions of Sweden.They arenotregarded as geographical areas by Swedes as they are not connected to dialects or identity, which is a role fulfilled by the historicalprovinces of Sweden(Swedish:landskap). Sweden is today divided into 21 counties; however, the number of counties has varied over time, due to territorial gains/losses and to divisions and/or mergers of existing counties. This level of administrative unit was first established in the1634 Instrument of GovernmentonLord ChancellorCountAxel Oxenstierna's initiative, and superseded the landskap, in order to introduce a more efficient administration of the realm. At that time, they were what the translation ofläninto English literally means:fiefdoms.The county borders often follow the provincial borders, butthe Crownoften chose to make slight relocations to suit its purposes.

In every county there is acounty administrative board(länsstyrelse) headed by a governor (landshövding), appointed by thegovernment,as well as a separateregional council(region). In the county ofGotlandhowever, the county's only municipality has adopted regional responsibilities.

The aims of the county administrative board are to supervise local state administration (that is not otherwise assigned to other government agencies), and to coordinate political goals with the central government. The regional council is the elected regional political assembly that oversees the municipal affairs of the county, primarily in regard topublic healthcare,public transport,and culture.

Beginning in the 2000s, many major government agencies have reorganised from a countybased subdivisional structure into larger geographical or functional areas. This include theSwedish Tax Agency(1 January 2004), theSwedish Social Insurance Agency(1 January 2005), theSwedish Public Employment Service(1 January 2008), and theSwedish Police Authority(1 January 2015).

List of counties[edit]

ISO NUTS CoA County (Län) Administrative centre Governor Area
(km2) 		Population
(2021-12-31)[1] 		Density
SE-AB SE110 Stockholm Stockholm Anna Kinberg Batra 6,519.3 2,415,139 370
SE-C SE121 Uppsala Uppsala Stefan Attefall 8,207.2 395,026 48.1
SE-D SE122 Södermanland Nyköping Beatrice Ask 6,102.3 301,801 49.5
SE-E SE123 Östergötland Linköping Carl Fredrik Graf[sv] 10,602.0 469,704 44.3
SE-F SE211 Jönköping Jönköping Helena Jonsson 10,495.1 367,064 35.0
SE-G SE212 Kronoberg Växjö Maria Arnholm 8,466.0 203,340 24.0
SE-H SE213 Kalmar Kalmar Allan Widman 11,217.8 247,175 22.0
SE-I SE214 Gotland Visby Anders Flanking 3,151.4 61,001 19.4
SE-K SE221 Blekinge Karlskrona Ulrica Messing 2,946.4 158,937 53.9
SE-M SE224 Skåne Malmö,Kristianstad Anneli Hulthén 11,034.5 1,402,425 127
SE-N SE231 Halland Halmstad Anders Thornberg 5,460.7 340,243 62.3
SE-O SE232 Västra Götaland Gothenburg,Vänersborg Sten Tolgfors 23,948.8 1,744,859 72.9
SE-S SE311 Värmland Karlstad Georg Andrén[sv] 17,591.0 283,196 16.1
SE-T SE124 Örebro Örebro Lena Rådström Baastad 8,545.6 306,792 35.9
SE-U SE125 Västmanland Västerås Johan Sterte[sv] 5,145.8 278,967 54.2
SE-W SE312 Dalarna Falun Helena Höij 28,188.8 288,387 10.2
SE-X SE313 Gävleborg Gävle Per Bill 18,198.9 287,767 15.8
SE-Y SE321 Västernorrland Härnösand Carin Jämtin 21,683.8 244,193 11.3
SE-Z SE322 Jämtland Östersund Marita Ljung[sv] 49,341.2 132,054 2.68
SE-AC SE331 Västerbotten Umeå Helene Hellmark Knutsson 55,186.2 274,563 4.98
SE-BD SE332 Norrbotten Luleå Lotta Finstorp[sv] 98,244.8 249,693 2.54

Map[edit]

With county codes, which were official until 1974.

Each county region contains a number ofmunicipalities(kommuner), the existence of which is partly at the discretion of the central government. Since 2004 their number has been 290, thus an average of 13.8 municipalities per county.

Until 1968, the City ofStockholmhad its own "county code"A,which is still used interchangeably withABin some contexts, and County of Stockholm had county codeB.Lwas forKristianstad CountyandMwas forMalmöhus Countybut since they were merged to formSkåne County,Mis usually used.Oused to stand forGothenburg and Bohus Countybut has been used forVästra Götaland Countysince it was merged withSkaraborg County(R) andÄlvsborg County(P).

History[edit]

Older subdivisions[edit]

Sweden'sprovinces,orlandskap,and the"lands",orlandsdelar,lack political importance today but are common denominations culturally and historically. The provinces had their own laws and justice systems and could have large cultural and religious differences. The province ofSmåland(literallysmall land) historically was several provinces with its own laws. Here burial tradition in the era before theViking Agecould differ significantly from province to province. The province ofNorrbottenis a relatively recent creation; it was part ofVästerbottenwhich extended all the way toÖsterbotteninto today'sFinlandbefore 1809. Finnish and SwedishLapplandwas also one province until 1809.

Historically, the provinces were grouped in three lands:Götaland,being southern and western Sweden;Svealandbeing eastern and south-eastern, andNorrlandbeing the entire northern half. The names of the first two refer to ancient tribes, and the third is a geographical reference. They are still commonly used as geographical references. The boundaries have changed over time, with the most significant in 1658 (the cession of provinces from Denmark-Norway to Sweden) and 1812 (due to the loss of Finland to Russia in 1809). In 1812, some provinces were moved fromGötalandtoSvealand.

Finland[edit]

After theFinnish War,Sweden was forced to cede the counties inFinlandtoRussiafollowing theTreaty of Fredrikshamnin (1809). However, the counties were upheld in Finland until areformin 1997. They are still in use in Sweden, 370 years later.

The counties in Finland established in 1634 were:Turku and Pori County,Nyland and Tavastehus County,Viborg and Nyslott County,Ostrobothnia CountyandKexholm County.Over time the number of subdivisions in Finland increased to twelve, until a reorganization in 1997 reduced their number to sixprovinces,while keeping the administrative model intact. The counties in Finland were abolished in 2010.

Abolished counties[edit]

Abolished counties in current-daySweden properwere:

Counties in Swedish-ruledFinlandwere:

Proposed regions[edit]

Six or nine new administrative regions.

Under the aegis of theSwedish government,Ansvarskommitténhas been investigating the possibilities of merging the current 21 counties into 6 to 9 larger regions. These proposals are from their final report, delivered in 2007:[2]

A model for this comes from the merger of some counties intoSkåne CountyandVästra Götaland Countyin 1997 and 1998, respectively, which is now considered a success.

The counties are discussing the proposal. An obstacle is thatStockholm Countydoes not want to merge with any other county, while its neighbours want to merge with Stockholm. After this discussion the following proposal has in 2016 emerged:

  1. Norrbotten, Västerbotten, Västernorrland and Jämtland county
  2. Dalarna, Gävleborgs, Södermanlands, Uppsala, Västmanland and Örebro county
  3. Östergötland, Jönköping, Kalmar and Kronoberg county
  4. Gotland and Stockholm county
  5. Halland, Värmland and Västra Götaland county
  6. Blekinge and Skåne county

The main difference is that the proposed Bergslagen is divided to other counties, and Stockholm is on its own (plus the small Gotland which has air connections to Stockholm)

Riksområden[edit]

Main article:National Areas of Sweden
Currentstatistical regions(riksområden).

The counties in Sweden correspond to the third level of division in theEuropean Union's system ofNomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics.For the purpose of creating regions corresponding to the second level, counties have been grouped into eightRiksområden,orNational Areas:Stockholm,East Middle Sweden,North Middle Sweden,Middle Norrland,Upper Norrland,Småland and the islands,West SwedenandSouth Sweden.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^"Folkmängd i riket, län och kommuner 31 december 2021 och befolkningsförändringar 2021".Statistics Sweden(in Swedish). 22 February 2022.Retrieved8 January2024.
  2. ^"Regional utveckling och regional samhällsorganisation".Government Offices of Sweden(in Swedish). 23 March 2007. SOU 2007:13.

External links[edit]

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